Keyboard-transmitter.



N0. 856,265. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

J. U. KUNKLE.

KEYBOARD TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR J /m C. A mz/e ATTORNEYS No. 856,265. I PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

. J. G. KUNKLE.

KEYBOARD TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 IEfLi I 5 W a; L P I j /v v a I 9 J &

JAN 6. fink/e ATTOR/VEY6 T UNITED sTArns PATENT OFFICE.

KEYBOARD-TRANSMITTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1907.

Application filed June 21,1905. Serial No. 266,215.

To all whmn, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN C. KUNKLn, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,with post-office address 195 Broadway, New York, have invented certainnew and usefullmprovements in Keyboard- Transmitters, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of telegraph transmitters known askeyboard transmitters and has for its object to simplify and improve theconstruction and operation of such instruments.

One part of my invention consists substantially in mounting the type orcharacter bars so as to rock on an axis parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the bar and providing for a mechanical connection of such barswith the driving power by the operation of the key, the connection beingpreserved until the transmission has been effected, after which the barsare freed and, under the action of a spring, rock into position suchthat they may return to normal position without engagement with thedriving power.

Another object of my invention is to avoid the expense and complicationof apparatus incurred, when, as heretofore, the transmitting devices arecombined with a typewriter as a complete machine for the purpose ofmaking a typographical record of the transmissions and for the purposeof permitting the operator to take down a received message intypewriting. To secure this result, I propose to organize thetransmitter as a separate instrument having proper keys and to combinethe same with a typewriter by simply placing it under the typewriterwith the keys of the transmitter adjusted or arranged in proper relationto the key levers of the typewriter so that pressure on the latter willactuate the keys of the transmitter and effect the desiredtransmissions. By a suitable coupling device the transmitting part ofthe combination may be thrown out of action allowing the instrument tobe used simply as a typewriter.

By my invention, operators who have typewriters and are compelled by therequirements of business to use them for receiving messages are notobliged to go to the expense of replacing them with special machinesorganized in themselves to both typewrite and transmit, but can, bymerely purchasing the transmitter and by placing it under his typewriterbe possessed of an apparatus fulfilling all of the requirements of hisservice. l

In carrying out my invention, I employ a series of type or characterbars, each adapted to produce any desired transmission or sequence oftransmissions, that is to say, transmit a single letter or anycombination of letters by mechanically actuating a suitable contactdevice to which all of said character bars bear the same mechanicalrelation. For operating saidbars to effect the transmissions, I employ asuitable driving power and keys that act on suitable devicesggby whichthe type bar appropriated to the desired transmission may be geared upto the driving power. Means are employed for automatically uncouplingeach bar from the driving power at the conclusion of a transmission.

My invention further consists in the combinations of a jockey rollercontact, a controlling lever therefor, a series of type bars adapted toact on said lever, and keys for coupling said type bars at will to thedriving pdwer.

My invention further consists in the novel combinations of apparatus anddetails of construction more fully hereinafter described and thenspecified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a side elevation of anapparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same showing aseries of type bars. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of a part of theapparatus on the line :10 a: Fig. 1 to show the canted position of thetype bar. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the type barbar in engagement with the driving power. Fig. 5 shows a modification ofa detail. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a shifting key arranged so thattwo letters might be used on the one type bar. Fig. 7 is a diagrammaticview showing how the type bar may be coupled to the driving power bymeans of an electromagnet. Fig. 8 is a plan of part of an ordinarytypewriter keyboard showing the coupling device which may be placedbetween the typewriter keyboard and the transmitter, so that by itsinsertion the typewriter is coupled to the transmitter and bywithdrawing it the typewriter may be used alone.

rights C.

of the arrow 1.

Fig. .1 is a iront elevation showing one of the bars of the couplingdevice, Fig. 8.

A. indicates the base oi the transmitter port-ion of the apparatus: B, Betc. indicate the type or character bars of which there may be as manyas desired. Each is provided with one or more groups of teeth b ar--ranged in the desired order or relation to transmit the desiredcharacter or characters by acting mechanically and directly orindirectly upon the contact maker of the apparatus. Each type orcharacter bar B is adapted to slide in suitable bearings formed by theuprights C or otherwise and in effecting the transmission moves in thedirection The return of the type bar to normal position may be effectedby any desired means, as for instance, by a spring D, coiled on the barand compressed by the forward motion of the bar against one of the up- Asuitable driving power is employed for producing a forward motion in thedirection of the arrow 1. This driving power, which may be of anydesired character and may be connected to the bars in any desired way,is typified by constantly rotating shaft E having a pinion e keyed to itand arranged to gear with the racks F of the respective type bars.Normally, the bars stand in position to be disconnected from the drivingpower. For the purpose of connecting and disconnecting them, I prefer toso arrange the parts that they may rock upon their longitudinal axes aswell as have a sliding motion in the direction of the axis. Normally,the bars stand in canted position as shown in Fig. 3 so that the racksand pinions F, e are disconnected. By turning the bar on its axis, so asto occupy the position shown in Fig. 4 its rack F will become coupled tothe pinion e and being retained in the appropriate position will move inthe direction of the arrow 1. \Vhen the transmission has been efleetedit is permitted to resume its normal canted position and will thenreturn under the action of the spring I) to such normal position. Bymeans of a suitable spring, a bias is given to the bar which tends tokeep it in canted position. The spring D may obviously be used for thispurpose as well as for moving the bar back in the direction of itslongitudinal axis, after the transmission. Any desired means may beemployed under the control of each key whereby, on the pressing of thekey, the type bar will become. coupled to the driving power and beactuated thereby. This coupling of the bar and power may be effected bymechanical or by electromagnetic means. Thus, for instance, the lowerend of the stem or rod which carries the key G may engage the side ofits appropriate bar B so as to rock it in obvious manner and bring therack and pinion into gear. Each key and stem may be mounted in anydesired way, as for instance, in guides extending from the side of thepost and each may be provided with a spring by which it will be restoredto nori'nal position.

Instead of operating upon its type bar by directly engaging the samemechanically, each key may operate through the intervention of anelectromagnet as indicated in Fig. 7, where 1' indicates a circuitcloser adapted to close the circuit of an electromagnet It when the keyis depressed. In this modification the key is shown as consisting of thekey lever of a typewriter. The pole of the electromagnet is arrangedopposite the side of the rocking character bar as shown, so that whenthe magnet is excited, the bar will be rocked into gear with the drivingshaft. In this case, it will be understood that the power of the magnetis applied so as to exert a pull on a line below or to one side of theaxial line around which the bar rocks, although said bar being in thisinstance will naturally tend to assume a position in which the forcesacting at opposite sides of its axial line of rotation will heneutralized. or in other words, it will assume a position of magneticequilibrium in the magnetic field and hence will tend to rock from theinclined position shown to an upright position.

As will be obvious, each key lever of the typewriter would have its owncircuit closer 1" and the latter would stand normally in open circuitposition. By using the circuit closer and by having the key lever of thetypewriter act directly upon the same, it is obvious that the downwardstroke of the key lever is made shorter than would be necessary in theorganization shown in Fig. 1 and that it is possible for the operator toef feet the transmissions by a finger movement instead of by a whole armstroke. This modification also enables the. operator to place hissending machine at any point he may wish, and reduces the amount ofmechanism under the type writer.

The same source of electrical energy which supplies the severalelectromagnets R may be also utilized to run a motor which will act asthe driving power for turning shaft E, either directly or by winding upa spring. In the case of the modification shown in Fig. 7, it isobvio'js that the bar B should be of some magnetic material. It not ofmagnetic material, an armature would be attached to the. same at apointopposite the pole of the elec tromagnet R. vTo keep the bar engaged withthe driving power until the transmission has been completed, a sitablespring latch H on a fixed support and a co-operating pin or big it onthe type bar are employed. WVhen the type bar is rocked by the action ofthe push button, the leg h swings under the spring latch H and becomesengaged with the side of the latch H and the bar is held geared to thepinion 2 until the log it reaches the step or off set, set at i. The baris there- ICC by permitted to turn and the lug l1 swings out ofengagement with the guide or latch H and brings up against a returnghide bar K. 'hen the bar swings it becomes disconnected from thedriving power and the spring l) reti rns it to its normal position, theend of the 11g or pin it at s. ch time riding under the spring latch 11and in engagement with the edge of the sapplemental guide K which actsas a stop to limit the swing of the type bar away from the position ofengagement of rack andpinion c, F. A suitable stop Z.- on the bar limitsthe backward move ment thereof and the lug comes to rest in positionshown in Fig. 1 with the end of spring latch 11 pressing down on the hg.When the type bar swings the 11 g h from under the spring latch H, thelatter will spring down behind the l" g and hold the bar engaged withthe driving power, as shown in Fig. 2.

The type bar characters or teeth I) operate upon a contact maker commonto the bars B. In the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, Irse an arm common to said bars and mounted on a lever L. Said levermight, if desired, itself operate as a contact lever, although, inpractice 1 prefer to use it as the means for controlling the position ofa supplemental contact maker L, which itself makes and breaks thecircr-it and has associated with it a roller M, spring mounted, andengaging with the end of the lever L to hold it in either open or closedposition as in the well known jockey roller contact device. The lever Lrocks on suitable bearings at Z and is provided at its end underneaththe type bars with the cross arm N arranged transversely to thecharacter bars, so as to be engaged by the character teeth orprojections b on all said bars. .In practice the lever L could beconstructed as a doi ble elbow lever, the two sides of which wo'dd beconnected by the bar orarm N, while said levers would themselves beattached at the elbow to a rock shaft. The upright arm of one leverwould engage the end of lever L. Normally the arm N stands in raisedposition by the action of a spring 0. 1n this position of bar or arm N,the lever L stands in the position shown. WVlien the arm or bar X isdepressed, the upright arm of the lever L frees the lever L and thejockey roller M forces the lever L over so as to close contact. Upon thebar or arm N being freed at the space between the teeth of the type barsaid arm rises and the upright arm of the lever li forces the contactlever L back to position shown.

The arm or bar X may be mounted and be operatively connected with thecontact device in other ways without departing from my invention; thisfor instance, and as illustrated in Fig. 5, said arm instead of beingattached to a lever, may itself be pivotally mounted on a rock shaft nand may engage directly with the contact lever L.

The keys G are arranged in proper position to be engaged respectively bythe dill'ercnt typewriter key levers P of a typewriter when thetransmitter apparatus is placed in position upon a suitable base beneaththe typewriter. The depression of the proper typewriter kcy lever causesthe depression of the key G beneath the same.

By employing a jockey roller contact device which is common to all typeor character bars, it is obviops that I'secure a uniform pressureat theelectrical contact for all transmissions and therefore a uniformtransmission of the signals.

Most of the present transmitters are a part of the typewriter and arecombined with the same in a complete machine.

My device is designed to be used in conjunction with any make oftypewriter (or it can be used as a separate instrument) for whichpurpose it is only necessary to place it under a typewriter and adjustthe latter so that the keys of the typewriter will press on the keys ofthe transmitter. This feature makes it exceedingly valuable as themajority of operators have typewriters, in fact are compelled by therequirements of business to use them and cannot afford to replace themwith the machines which are at present on the market.

To enable the operator at will to use his typewriter without actuatingthe transmitter or to cause the transmitter keys to act when thetypewriter levers are'depressed, I propose to employ suitable means formechanically coupling the typewriter levers and the transmitter keys Gwhen the apparatus is employed for transmitting messages and foruncoupling them when it is desired to use the typewriter simply forrecording a received message. Such a mechanical coupling device isconveniently composed of movable coupling bars or rods adapted to beslid into and out of the spaces between the lower edge of the typewriterkey levers and the top of the keys G. A device of this character isillustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 wherein Y indicates the coupling piecesconnected to the slide Y operated by knob Y. The coupling'pieces arehinged to the slide so that they may move freely in a vertical directionand thus not interfere with the free movement of the typewriter leversand keys G when the said pieces Y are in position to couple thetypewriter and transmitter. By moving the slide Y it is obvious that theparts Y may be transferred to )osition where they will not be in thepath of the typewriter key levers, so that the latter will engage theusual stop before they strike the keys G of the transmitter. Under thelatter condition, the typewriter may be operated withoutany action ofthe tIfI-llSlYllttOl while: in the former condiplete word like At, The,etc.

tion, the operator in sending a message bythe transmitter will make arecord on his typewriter of the message sent.

The bars carrying the letters can have the letters so combined that theymake a 001m ()ne touch of a key will then make a word. It is evidentsuch an arrangement must aid the operator in speed and lessen the labor.In order to meet all requirements of a shift key type writer or toincrease the capacity of the transmitter keyboard, one or more of thecharacter bars may be provided with. different or independent groups ofprojections, each group representing a different character or word.Combined with the arm N are suitable meanswhereby it may be placed inoperative relation to either of said groups. The mechanism for shiftingthe position of the arm to bring it into the desired operative re lationwith either group may be under the control of the typewriter shift key.Fig. 6 illustrates a mechanism embodying this part of my invention. Astherein shown, the arm N may be attached to collars W slidably mountedupon the horizontal lever arm L so as to permit it to be shifted in thedirection of the longitudinal axis of said. lever arm to bring the baror arm N in position opposite the beginning of the group of projectionson the type bar representing the character which it is desired totransmit. The shifting of the I collar WV in one direction may beeffected by means of lever V, engaging the arm on one side and opposingsprings to engaging the sliding collars on the other. To operate lever Vby means of shift key P, a toggle T may be employed. Said toggle has itsknee arranged beneath the shift key P so that the depression of thelatter will tend to straighten the toggle. The free arm of the toggle isloosely connected with the short arm-of the lever V. In the position ofthe parts as shown in the drawings, the arm N is in operative relationto the first group of character projections on the character bar B'. Tobring it into 0 erative relation to the second group, the shi t key I?is depressed.

It will be understood that the range of movement of the bar B when theparts are in the position shown is not sufiicient to bring the secondgroup of projections into engagement with the arm or bar N.

The operation of the instrument has been indicated in detail in theforegoing descrip tion. Briefly stated, to effect the transmis sion ofany desired character or characters, the appropriate key G is depressed,thus gearing up its appropriate type bar to the constantly operatingdriving power. The type bar then makes a forward motion in the directionof arrow Z and mechanically effects the transmission through the mediumof lever L and. jockey roller of contact lever L, during which operationit is held in gear with the power by the stud h. At the end of thetransmission it is automatically disengaged from the power and returnsto normal position by the action of the spring D. Owing to thesimplicity of the mechanism and the manner in which the letters are madeto follow quickly the speed will be greatly increased.

I do not limit myself to any particular form of type or character bar,since the aims and purposes of my invention may be secured in any caseby suitably mounted the bar or otherwise shaped member having thecharacter teeth to permit it to have the required movements.

I/Vhat I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination of a reciprocating and rocking type or character barada ted to rock on an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar,means for rocking the same, a driving power, a latch for holding the barin position to retain connection with the driving power, and means forautomatically disengaging the bar and catch to allow the bar to turn onsaid axis and become disengaged from the driving power, as and for theurpose described.

2. The combination of a reciprocating and rocking ty e or character baradapted to rock on a l zmgitudinal axis, a driving shaft and gearadapted to be'coupled by rocking the bar and a guide adapted to hold theparts in gear during transmission and provided with 'a step or offsetfor freeing the bar to permit it to rock and become uncoupled from thedriving power.

The combination of a series of type or character bars, a jockey rollercontact device common to the same, a bar mounted independently of thejockey roller contact device and arranged transverse to the'characterbars and adapted to be engaged by the character teeth or projections ofall of them and an arm connected with said bar for engaging an arm ofthe jockey roller contact device.

4. The combination with a reciprocating and rocking character baradapted to rock on a longitudinal axis and a contact device actuatedthereby, of means for rocking the bar to connect it to a drivingmechanism, a spring for returning the bar to normal position, a guidefor holding the bar connected to the driving mechanism and means forfreeing the bar to permit it to become disengaged from the drivingmechanism and to return to normal position under the action of thespring.

5. The combination of a jockey rollercontact, a controlling arm, aseries of type bars acting on said arm, rocker bearings for said bar, aseries of keys for said type bars mounted independently of said bars andadapted to engage. and rock the same and a driving power constantlyoperating and adapted to actuate any bar to effect the transmission whensaid bar is geared thereto by the depression of the appropriate key.

6. A seli'contained keyboard transmitter con'iprising a series oflongitudinally reciprocating type or character bars mounted in suitableguides, means for reciprocating said bars to efl'ect the transmissionsand a series of controlling devices for said bars, each having itsappropriate key, in combination with a self-contained typewriter mountedover the transmitter and means disconnected from the typewriter leversfor coupling the keys of the transmitter with the key levers of thetypewriter at will, as and f or the purpose described.

7. A keyboard transmitter comprising in combination a series ofreciprocating type or character bars,- a common driving shaft normallydisconnected from said bars, rocker bearings for said bars arranged inline parallcl to the longitudinal axis of the bars, a series of keysadapted to engage the sides of said bars and rock them into gear withthe driving shaft, a spring applied to each bar to give the same arocking bias which tends to disengage it from the driving shaft, meansfor retaining the bar in engagement and permitting it to becomedisengaged after a transmission has been effected, a contact making andbreaking device, and across-arm or bar arranged transversely to theseries of type bars and controlling the position of the contact device.

8. The combination with a transmitter character bar,having two or morecharacters, of a transmitter arm adapted to be brought into operativerelation with either of said characters, and means for shifting the armto permit the transmission of the desired character.

9. The combination of a character bar, having two or more groups ofcharacter pro jections, a circuit closer, a controlling arm thereforarranged to be engaged by said groups of character projections and meansfor shifting the arm into operative relation with either of said groups.

10. The combination of a series of character bars, a contact maker, acontrolling arm, arranged transverse to said bars, and operativelyconnected with said contact maker,

and means for shifting the arm in the direction-of the longitudinal axisof the bars to bring it into operative relation with difi'erent groupsof characters on one or more of said bars.

11. The combination of a typewriter space key, a transmitter characterbar, having two groups of character projections, a contact maker, acontrolling arm therefor, adapted to be engaged by the characterprojections and arranged transversely to the character bar, and asupporting lever for said arm provided with a slidable collar to whichthe arm is attached.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this15th day of June A. D. 1905.

JOHN C. KUNKLE.

Witnesses O. T. TIsoHNER, Jr., LILLIAN BLoND.

